The Diet Plate: Cool or Not?

When it comes to food, portion control is a struggle that prevents a lot of people from achieving a healthy weight. There are everyday visuals to use as an aid for measuring a proper portion, like your own hands, but some people require more straightforward guidelines.

Enter The Diet Plate ($23), a plate that partitions sections for various types of food like protein, starchy carbohydrates, vegetables, cheese, sauces, etc. The plate is rimmed with affirmations like "you can do it" and "diet with a friend." The dinnerware comes in a female and a male version, and there's a bowl that serves the same portion control purpose.

I appreciate the easy visual this plate provides for those who need help controlling their portions, and can see how it would help teach someone how to eyeball portions when using other dinnerware. However, I'm not keen on the use of the word diet — portion control is not dieting. With this mentality, someone who loses weight by eating appropriate portions may revert to oversized portions after they no longer need to "diet." It creates a vicious cycle. What do you think of The Diet Plate, is it cool or not?

Yeah, kind of dorky IMHO as well. I don't think I'd like to eat food off a plate with all sorts of pictures and stupid sayings on it. I think it'd drive me nuts. I could see it being kind of useful if you know absolutely nothing about nutrition, but even then it's a bit patronizing, don't you think?

As with all diet's, even though I really hate using the word diet, each individual is different. I feel that one must work closely with a dietitian in order to find the right combination of foods the person can eat in order to maintain a healthy weight or to lose weight. People should try to look at it more like a change in eating habits instead of using the word dieting. Of course this is my opinion.

I think it would be good for people just getting into the game who don't really understand what correct portion sizes are. Not necessarily an original idea, but I do like their take on it (minus the affirmations, lol!).